


It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

by dinglesugdendinglesugden



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Christmas, Family, Fluff, M/M, Smut, ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 15:57:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13126983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinglesugdendinglesugden/pseuds/dinglesugdendinglesugden
Summary: Five christmas' Robert and Aaron spend together during their relationship.





	It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Written originally for robronchristmas2017
> 
> Merry Christmas!!
> 
> Tumblr: @robertjacobsuggers

**Affair**

The lights had been up around the village since November now, lit even during the day with the dull grey sky covering them. Tinsel decorated the trees, all brown and leaf-less, but looked nice with the white flashing fairy lights and red tinsel intertwined with the branches. Houses in the village had wreaths hung on the front doors, and Robert was sure the decorations carried on into the homes.

Home Farm had been decorated to within an inch of its life, with Chrissie adamant that she wanted to get well into the Christmas spirit, despite the majority of the villagers not seeing it. They’d hired someone to chop a pine tree down from the estate, and put it in the living room as a centre piece, standing over 10 foot tall, with non-traditional purple tinsel and baubles covering it almost entirely.

Robert had been fed up of the excessive decorations right from the get go. He wasn’t the Grinch, but he’d prefer it if he didn’t get a headache every time he sat in his own house. In the village it was fine, because everyone seemed to be getting well and truly into the Christmas spirit.

The pub had gone overboard as well, maybe not as expensive as the festive décor as Home Farm, but it seemed more homely and traditional, somewhere that was cosy, despite the overwhelming smell of alcohol. Holly was up on the walls, ribbons and tinsel dangling from the ceiling, and the sound of Michael Bublé’s album playing in the background.

This Christmas, Robert was dressed in a burgundy suit, well fitted to make a good impression. It was one of his best suits, if it was at all possible to choose from his wide range ones he owned- and he was wearing it for his brother’s wedding.

He saw Aaron, all dressed up in a dark blue suit, nothing designer, yet he had the ability to wear it like it belonged on the runway for Givenchy. He took a deep breath, seeing Aaron leaning over the bar, the tight-fitted suit doing absolutely everything for his body, and Robert was grateful it was just the two of them in the room.

“You look amazing.” Robert muttered under his breath, moving so his arm was pressed against Aaron’s, head pulled back slightly to admire his body for longer.

Aaron huffed out an incredulous laugh, shaking his head, and Robert was almost certain he was rolling his eyes. “Shouldn’t you be with your wife?”

Robert smirked, eyes doe-y and wide. “Should be.” He responded, before leaning in again. “But it’s also my brother’s wedding day, so I suppose I could slip away without her knowing.”

Aaron smiled instinctively, knowing exactly what Robert was saying to him, before Victoria walked through, carrying a tray of foot, hair pinned up in curlers.

“Oh, what are you doing here Rob?” She asked, carrying on with her job. “Have you and Andy sorted it out?”

“Not exactly,” Robert said, throwing Aaron an apologetic look before turning to face his sister. “I was hoping he was here, to try and sort it out now.”

Aaron spoke up again, “What’s happened? I saw him before and he’s got a black eye.”

“All thanks to Robert!” Victoria said, causing Aaron’s head to turn and look at the man next to him, who seemed to be only a few seconds away from nibbling at his bottom lip.

“Punch up at Dad’s grave.” Robert shrugged, making Aaron’s eyes narrow at him, before Victoria walked back into the kitchen.

“And that’s something to be proud of, is it?” Aaron asked, not letting the conversation drop. “Beating up your brother next to your Dad’s grave?”

“No. I’m sorry I did it, really.” Robert said, moving closer to Aaron, voice dropping again. “I came here to see you first, but I promise I’ll go see Andy-apologise.”

“Meet me later.” Robert spoke after a moment of silence.

And he did meet him later.

The wedding had been an accomplishment, meaning they actually did have the exchanging of vows, and everything was above board- something that didn’t seem to happen that much in the village.

Robert had texted Aaron when he knew the coast was clear, and Chrissie had driven back up to the estate to warm up, leaving Robert at the reception with his siblings.

_**upstairs. R x** _

Aaron checked his phone slyly, barely even getting it out of his pocket, before looking around the room to find Robert, who was nowhere to be found.

Pocketing his phone again, Aaron made sure nobody was watching him before leaving the pub and entering the back room, ready to walk up the stairs to his bedroom. Robert was sat at the top of the stairs, arse on the landing and long legs dangling at least three steps down, fist under his chin and smirking at Aaron, who practically charged up the stairs and leaned his body over Robert’s pressing his back to the floor and kissing him like his life depended on it.

Robert smirked into the kiss, back arching off the floor and hands gripping to Aaron’s waist. “Move.” Aaron muttered against his lips, not daring to pull away from the touch.

He let out a low growl against Aaron’s mouth, breath mingling together, before somehow managing to scramble to his feet, hands already nudging off Aaron’s blazer, while Aaron fiddled with Robert’s flies, undoing them and shoving his hands closer to Robert’s already erect crotch.

Aaron shoved him into the room, slamming the door shut as Robert’s back pressed against it, wincing in the hope that nobody could hear them over the music blasting downstairs. It was  _Wham!_  now, playing louder than earlier on, and people had started to get rowdy and excited, but Robert was pressed against Aaron’s bedroom door, blazer on the floor, shirt half opened and crumpled, and trousers halfway down his legs, swiftly followed by his boxers.

It was quick and easy, something they’d gotten used to in the short amount of time they shared together, but both of them knew that feeling were starting to seep into it, and soon neither of them would be able to hold it back.

* * *

* * *

 

**First in the Mill**

****

Liv hadn’t been in their lives for a year, yet she’d already managed to wrap Robert around her little finger. She’d been ill on the day her school took a trip to the Christmas markets, and Robert had promised her that he’d take her once she was feeling better, so, on the 12thDecember, that’s exactly what happened.

Aaron had to work all day, making up the hours from all the time he had taken off at the end of November to move into the Mill, which ended up being a feat because Robert spent half the time travelling around the North sorting deals out, leaving Aaron to do the majority of it on his own.

“Be good for Rob!” Aaron shouted upstairs to his sister, phone in his hand, a text already half typed out to Adam. A faint ‘I will’ answered back, and Aaron turned to his boyfriend, who instantly wrapped his arms around Aaron, bodies pressed together.

“And you don’t be winding her up.” Aaron said, voice soft and quiet as Robert leaned closer to him, lips ghosting over one another.

“Promise we’ll be good.” Robert confirmed, smirking into the kiss with Aaron, who responded to it instantly.

Aaron pulled back, smiling, before leaning in again and pecking Robert’s lips once more, before actually leaving the house.

Robert turned back, walking over to the kitchen table and picking up the three mugs left behind and emptied the remains down the sink. Not even five minutes later and Liv came running down the stairs, one shoe on and one shoe in her hand, fist closed around the laces.

“Ready?” Robert asked, picking his car keys up off the side.

Liv nodded, pulling her converse on over her foot and tightening the strings, before tucking them down the inside of her shoe, much to Robert’s annoyance. “Yup. You’ve got my money?”

Robert hummed, patting his back pocket just to double check, and with that, Liv ran out of the door and stood next to the car.

“Isn’t it your first Christmas with Aaron as well?” Liv asked as she sat down, already grabbing the AUX cord and flicking Spotify on.

Robert smirked knowingly, remembering last Christmas, and how he and Aaron managed to spend time together after the wedding, in Aaron’s bedroom that later became theirs when Robert had admitted to Chrissie that he had fallen in love with someone else. “No, we were together last year.”

Liv furrowed her eyebrows, flicking through Justin Bieber’s Christmas album, stopping when she got to the song with Boyz II Men. “But you weren’t together when I visited, and that was in January?”

“Nothing gets past you, does it?” Robert chuckled, having a quick drink of a bottled water before driving properly. “Me and Aaron, we were an affair, this time last year. I was with Chrissie, fell in love with your brother and now we’re here.”

Liv just nodded, taking it all in before leaning her head back on the rest and bringing her foot up onto the seat.

“Down.” Robert said firmly. “You know the rules.”

It took well over an hour to get to the Markets, and by the time they’d gotten there, Liv had become restless, struggling on only a few hours sleep and Robert’s incessant conversation about Liv getting her head down at school in the new year.

The Christmas music was in full swing, playing out of loud speakers dotted around the place, the smell of chocolate wafting around the place. Robert would never admit it, but he was glad Liv and he could have some bonding time away from the village, even if it would probably end in Liv going over her budget and dipping into Robert’s bank account.

“You need to get Aaron’s present, and I need to look for Vic and Adam.” Robert said, handing Liv her own money, fastening his wallet back up. “Warm enough?”

Liv just nodded, not entirely telling the truth but she was in one of Aaron’s old hoodies and a pair of skinny jeans, massive coat chucked over her shoulders so she should start to warm up soon. “Then can we get food?”

“Then we can get food.” Robert confirmed. “I’m sure we can find a German food stall around here somewhere.”

Liv pulled her face, making Robert laugh loudly, people cutting off their conversations to look at the pair of them. He knew that Liv’s worst lesson in school was German, even if people thought it was Maths.

On the morning of the 25th, Liv woke up just after 9am, the sunlight peeping through her curtains and downstairs she could hear the sounds of the boys clattering about the kitchen. She climbed out of the bed, shoving a hoodie on and pocketing her phone before walking downstairs, struggling to hold on to the bannister because Robert had gone excessive with the decorations and had wrapped multi coloured tinsel all the way down it.

“Morning.” She croaked out, sitting down on the sofa, presents either side of her, falling on to the floor.

“Merry Christmas!” Robert cheered, music playing faintly on MTV, cup of tea in his hand to pass to Liv.

All three of them were still dressed in their pyjamas, not feeling the rush to get dressed yet, knowing it would be another couple of hours before they made their way to the pub for the extended family celebrations, this year also including the Sugden’s and Barton’s.

Robert sat down on the other end of the sofa, where he had put Aaron’s presents in the middle of the night. Aaron came a few moments later, attempting to sit on the arm of the chair, close to Robert but also able to see Liv opening her presents, until Robert pulled him onto his lap, wrapping his arms around his waist and pressing his lips to the back of shoulder, smiling.

“Get opening them, then!” Aaron said to Liv, who looked unsure at what her next move should be.

She instantly smiled, looking between the two of them and her presents, knowing already that she had been well and truly spoilt for the first time in her life. “Open yours as well then.” She muttered, picking up a relatively small one from the pile and holding it out to them.

“You got us a present?” Aaron asked, furrowing his eyebrows at his little sister, taking a sip of Robert’s brew.

“Presents. Plural.” Liv cheekily said. “Robert knows, he was with me. What he doesn’t know, however, is that I got him presents too.”

That caught Robert’s attention, who was halfway leaning down, holding Aaron firmly on his lap as he put the now empty cup on the floor by his feet. “Eh?” He remarked. “I was with you the whole day!”

“Went into Hotten after school with Gabby and I got some stuff there.” She shrugged. “Don’t be so shocked, you’re my brother too now. Couldn’t buy one of you something and leave the other out, could I?”

 

* * *

 

**An Engagement**

****

It had started in November, when Chas had asked Aaron if he had any idea what Robert wanted for Christmas. He had shook his head, not even bothering to look up from his phone screen as he scrolled down the menu bar for a jewellers in Leeds.

“Well what are you getting him?” She had asked, pulling a pint for someone Aaron’s certain he had never seen before.

Without speaking, he dropped his phone onto the bar and spun it around so his mum could see what was on the screen.

“Does this one look okay?” He asked, shyness seeping through at how big of a deal this was.

“Oh love.” Chas cooed, picking the phone up and inspecting it closely. “It’s perfect.”

“Sure?” He almost pleaded. “This needs to be perfect. He has no idea that I even want to get married, but he will when he opens that on Christmas day.”

“Are you certain? I mean, this is big, love. It’s for the rest of your life.”

Aaron just nodded, catching a glimpse of the ring he had picked out, smiling instantly. “I love him. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him.”

Chas just nodded, smiled and kissed her son on his cheek, much to his disgust, and carried on with her shift.

A day later, Aaron had made a reservation with the jewellers for midday, and told Robert he was going to a meeting, which wasn’t exactly a lie, he just didn’t clarify what kind of meeting it was. Robert had kissed him goodbye, as he usually did when they wouldn’t see each other for the majority of the day, picked up a folder and left to go to the scrapyard. Adam knew what his best mate was doing, so he was ready to lie to Robert just to keep him from guessing where Aaron was if it came to it.

Aaron had been in the shop for over half an hour, being talked through all the different ring shapes and sizes, trying to find two perfect ones that would fit both him and Robert. A woman who worked there was leaning against a cabinet, listening in on the conversation. She can’t have been long out of college, her long blonde hair reminding Aaron of Liv, innocent smile covering her face as she looked at the rings laid out in front of Aaron.

“When are you proposing?” She asked, causing Aaron to look up and smile without even thinking about it.

He looked across the subtle Christmas decorations they already had up, just like every other shop. “Christmas. He always says that that was when he fell in love with me, so I thought that this year I’d give him another reason to fall in love with me.”

“That’s so cute!” She gushed, watching as the red cheeks of Aaron’s became a deeper red. “He’s very lucky to have you.”

“I’m the lucky one, definitely.”

It was hidden under the tree when they eventually put it up. Wrapped up and put into a bag, the tag not written on, because Robert would most definitely sniff it out before the 25th. Every time Aaron put something else underneath the tree, he grew anxious at the thought of a symbol of the rest of his life being there, under a pile of presents that just kept growing.

Liv knew about it, she had forced it out of Aaron when she asked what he’d bought Robert. Now, she was just excited, bought Robert a brother-in-law Christmas card, that Aaron made her promise to give it to him after he’d actually proposed.

It had been snowing overnight, from tea time of the 24th, when the three of them were sat in the pub, Liv with her legs up against the table, hot chocolate in her hands and beanie still attached to her head. She had looked out of the window, and saw as the white flakes fell onto the dry pavement, sticking down, and within half an hour, the floor was completely white.

Liv woke up first this Christmas, opening up her curtains and seeing that the village was as picturesque as it could be, the snowfall overnight untouched over the streets, whiteness covering the tree branches, and the rolling hills that were once green, now looked like blankets.

“Boys!” she shouted outside their bedroom door, “It’s Christmas! Get up!”

Inside their room, Robert was wrapped around Aaron, hugging him closer, a smirk growing on his face when he heard Liv. Aaron croaked out a, “coming!” even though he hadn’t so much as opened his eyes, and really didn’t want to just yet.

“Hope you know that when we have kids, they’ll be waking us up before Liv every year.” Robert commented, pressing his lips to Aaron’s neck before getting up and shoving some clothes on, goosebumps already appearing on his body.

“Are we having kids?” Aaron asked, rolling over and opening his eyes, watching as Robert pulled a hoodie over his head.

“Course we are.” Robert said, kneeling back on the bed, leaning over and kissing Aaron for the first time today, properly, despite Liv threatening to break in and drag them both downstairs.

Aaron opened the door just moments later, moving quickly to wrap his arms around his little sister and pick her up over his shoulders, carrying her downstairs squirming.

Surprisingly, an hour later, the ring was still wrapped up in the bag under the tree, even with Robert speed opening his presents. Liv had pulled it out, winking at Aaron, who looked like he had just seen a ghost as soon as she did it.

“Whose is this?” Liv asked, holding the red bag in the air.

Robert looked at Aaron, shrugging. “I’ve never seen it.” He said.

“That’s because it’s yours.” Aaron said, taking it from Liv and handing it to Robert. “Before you open it though.”

Robert held the bag in his hands, looking up at his boyfriend, waiting for him to carry on.

“What you said this morning.” Aaron spoke. “I want that. I want to have kids with you. I want to bring Liv up with you, have a dog, make a home. I want it all with you. And yeah, we didn’t get off to the most traditional of starts, but I honestly wouldn’t change it for the world, because it was so  _us._ You once told me that the day you fell in love with me was this exact day, and I wanted to make it more memorable for all of us. You can open it now.”

Robert’s hands started shaking as he opened the bag up, reaching in to pick out a small item, all neatly wrapped up in the glittery wrapping paper he bought himself, months ago. As he started to tear the paper off, he could see that Aaron was starting to move from his position on the sofa, falling onto the floor and taking a place firmly on his knee, looking up at Robert.

“I love you.” Aaron said, causing Robert to pull his eyes away from the velvet box in his hands, still closed, just to look into Aaron’s eyes, the pair of them with tears threatening to spill out. “Will you marry me?”

Robert flicked open the box, seeing a ring,  _his_ ring staring at him. With a smile on his face, and tears now falling down his face, he slowly grabbed it, holding it up in front of his eyes, looking between Aaron and the piece of metal, before nodding.

“Yes! Of course I’ll marry you.”

Aaron lunged forward, hands either side of Robert’s face, kissing him and clinging on for dear life. “I love you.” Robert whispered, pulling away, foreheads touching while Aaron grabbed the ring and slid it onto Robert’s finger.

Liv spoke up now, breaking the moment. “Well now that’s out of the way, can we get some brekkie and get up to Zak and Lisa’s?”

Robert chuckled, pulling Aaron into the crook of his neck before looking at Liv. “I suppose so, eh kiddo?”

 

 

**Baby's First Christmas**

They’d been married for over half a year now, Liv now legally an adult, and for the past eleven months, they had been Dad’s to their little girl, Ellie. At first, they had planned that they wouldn’t go overboard for Christmas this year, but Chas had been so excited about spoiling her granddaughter that she started buying presents at the beginning of October, piling them up in a spare room in the pub. In the end, Robert had ended up following in her footsteps, ordering more presents than ever before, this time not even complaining about the state of his bank balance.

By the time it had come to wrapping them up, they had managed to separate Liv’s presents from Ellie’s, and then paying Liv to help wrap Ellie’s presents with them, deciding to have a week of wrapping, having a different person’s presents a day.

“Thought you weren’t going big this year?” Liv asked, leaning over to grab a roll of tape and some scissors.

“That was the plan, but somehow we ended up here.” Aaron said.

Robert snorted, picking up a shirt someone had bought for his daughter, the writing saying:  _Drama Queen just like daddy_.

“It was just calling your name.” Liv said, confessing to being the one who bought it.

“Me?!” Robert shouted mock offendedly.

Aaron and Liv shared a look between the two of them. “Point proven.” They remarked at the same time.

By the end of the week, all presents had been wrapped and hidden away, all put in bin liners with designated names written on them. Ellie had the most, three whole bags, courtesy of the extended family as well as her parents and Liv. Liv had two bags, already saying she wasn’t that fussed this year, knowing that their money would be going to Ellie, but she secretly had an eye on a new laptop for college work, and Robert had managed to find this out from Gabby. Robert and Aaron shared a bag, the majority of their presents having the tags saying “R&A”.

Liv had done the decorations this year, using her afternoon study periods to get them all down from the attic. It had been long and tiring, doing it all herself, but by the time Robert and Aaron walked in from work at five, just ready to go and pick Ellie up from Chas until they saw flashing lights coming from the living room. They went in to look what was happening, and Liv was sat on the floor, boxes surrounding her as she flicked on the lights, trying to get them to stay on constantly.

The walls were full of holly, tinsel perched over the top of photo frames, and the angel that had been passed through the generations of Sugden’s was on top of the tree as per usual.

“Did you do this?” Aaron asked, leaning against Robert’s side.

Liv looked up in shock, not realising how much time had gone by. It had taken her five hours.

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “Didn’t feel like it was Christmas without them up, and you two have done so much for me and El, so I thought I’d repay ya.”

Just like Robert had said years before, Ellie had been the one to wake them up that Christmas, just after seven in the morning. She’d gotten good at sleeping in, way past nine o’clock, but for the past few weeks she had been ill, getting restless in the early hours of the morning. Aaron winced, picking his phone up, the light instantly flooding the dark room.

“Ellie’s up.” Robert groaned, rolling onto his back, ready to go and get her.

Aaron got up before him, standing in his plaid pyjama bottoms and nothing else. “You stay here. I’ll get her.” He said, putting the phone back on the bedside table and sneaking out of the room.

“Hey baby.” Aaron spoke, leaning over his daughters cot, seeing her sat completely upright playing with her teddies. “What are you doing up?”

“Daddy!” She shouted tiredly, lifting her arms up for Aaron to hold her.

He picked her up, bundling her into his strong arms. “Gotta be quiet because Auntie Livvy’s still sleeping, okay?” Aaron spoke, whispering slightly.

Ellie nodded, putting one finger up against her lips and mumbling “Shh.” before resting her head on Aaron’s shoulder, closing her eyes as Aaron carried her into his and Robert’s bedroom across the hall.  

“Dada sleep?” Ellie asked, cuddling into Aaron when she saw Robert still in bed, fluffy hair overgrown and covering his face.

He smiled instantly, unable to keep up the pretence that he was sleeping as his daughter climbed onto the bed and tapped his face.

“Why are you awake, Squirt?” Robert asked, opening his arms for her to crawl into. “You gonna sleep here for a little bit?”

Ellie nodded in his arms as Aaron pulled the cover over the three of them, knowing that he wouldn’t go back to sleep, even if the two of them did.

“Me and Daddy have been with Father Christmas all night, haven’t we Daddy?” Robert whispered, stroking Ellie’s curly hair.

She looked up at Aaron in wonderment, waiting for him to speak.

“Yeah.” Aaron spoke. “Told him how good you are, so maybe if you go to sleep now, he’ll have left you something downstairs.”

“Wow!” Ellie gasped, quickly getting comfortable in between the two men, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. “Night.”

Aaron chuckled at how quickly she could pretend to fall asleep, head on Robert’s chest just like when she was newborn.

“God, she’s amazing.” Robert spoke a few minutes later, when her breathing had slowed down and she was definitely asleep.

Aaron leaned over and kissed his husband slowly. “I’m constantly in awe of you two.”

She woke up again, an hour and half later. Liv had obviously woken up, because she made a loud bang, closely followed by a “Sorry!” from the bathroom.

Liv emerged at their bedroom door just moments later, exactly like she had done every year. “Happy Christmas!” She smiled, face just peeping through the crack in the door, arms open wide to pick her niece up.

“Livvy!” Ellie shouted, bouncing on the bed, despite only just waking up.

“It’s my favourite little girl in the whole wide world.” Liv said, spinning her around in her arms, causing giggles to erupt. “Shall we go and see if Father Christmas has left any presents?”

“YEAH!” she shouted, giggles continuing to spill out as they bounded down the stairs, leaving the boys to follow after them.

It was the longest Christmas morning of their life, with Ellie taking literally hours to open up all her presents, throwing the wrapping paper over the floor, Robert chasing around to tidy it all up after he and Aaron opened their presents.

Liv had gotten a text from Belle just minutes after Ellie had finished tipping everything upside down, saying that they were on their way to the pub already, so Aaron had practically rushed to get Ellie dressed in her new clothes, making sure to have her wear the shirt that Liv bought.

The pub was packed, just as it was every Christmas when the Dingle’s all crammed in, extended families welcome and shoving all the tables together to make it one long table. It wasn’t long after they had turned up that the first pints had been pulled, Robert telling Aaron that he wasn’t drinking, so Aaron could drink if he wanted to. Liv, who had spent the majority of her teen years drinking spirits, wasn’t interested in them anymore, instead turning to the red wine like the older ladies of the family. Ellie was at on Aaron’s knee, not wanting to let go of him, even to play with the other younger kids.

It was a busy and jam packed Christmas, much like the first one Liv and Robert shared, but this time the family had grown again, with Liv getting her papers through, the deed poll confirming her to be half Dingle, half Sugden.

 

* * *

 

**Without Liv**

****

This Christmas was completely different for the first time in years. They were still in the Mill, Aaron, Robert and Ellie, but Liv had moved out. She hadn’t been there for nearing on six months, but the boys knew that Christmas just wouldn’t be the same.

Ellie was now eight, growing up slim and taller than most other children her age, clearly taking after Robert. Her brown, once curly hair was now wavy at best, all long and knotty. When Liv came around only a week ago, Ellie was up to her shoulders, nothing too shocking because Liv was only small herself, but with a eighteen  year age gap between them, it did make Robert and Aaron laugh.

She’d moved to Leeds, after being promoted in the art studio, earning much more money than first anticipated. She’d had a boyfriend, Oscar, since the age of nineteen, both meeting each other at university and constantly gravitating towards each other until he grew enough courage to ask her on a date, even if his friends did force him into it. They’d bought a flat, nothing special with the amount of student debt they both owed, but it was theirs, and for the first time, they’d spend Christmas together in their shared home.

This Christmas, Ellie had done all the decorations, choosing where everything went, including the musical teddies that she had forced Cain into buying for her when he took her shopping one afternoon. They’d got five in total, all singing Christmas songs in an obnoxious childish voice, and Ellie had driven Cain mad on the way home, sitting in the passenger seat playing them all on after the other. It was decided that they’d go on the fireplace, so the dog couldn’t get to them, because that was not something they’d want to happen after the first mishap when they’d adopted him.

Aaron looked around the living room, seeing the new colour scheme for the first time, a far cry away from the red they had the tendencies to stick to. Ellie had pointed out blue baubles at the beginning of November, crying out that she wanted a blue Christmas, so that’s what they had ended up with. A trolley full of new, blue decorations.

Ellie woke them up, just after nine in the morning, dressing gown sheltering her from the cold as she jumped on their bed, screaming at them to wake up. Aaron shot up quickly, grabbing her little legs and pulling them out, making her fall back on the bed, squealing. It was something he had done even since she was a toddler, scaring Robert that she was going to break a bone if they weren’t careful, but that hadn’t happened yet, so Aaron carried.

“Why do you want us awake, Princess?” Robert called her by her new nickname, something he discovered he loved calling her after she dressed up as Cinderella a few months back. ‘His little princess’, he had said, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. Aaron had teased him, saying ‘is this what you’ll be like on prom night, and when it’s her wedding?’

Ellie looked at him in horror, pulling her dressing gown hood over her head once again. “It’s Christmas, dad!”

“Is it?” Aaron feigned surprise. “I didn’t know that!”

Ellie rolled her eyes, giggling nonetheless.

“Suppose we better see if Father Christmas has been this year, then.” Aaron spoke, letting Ellie jump on his back to go downstairs, just like every other morning.

“Has he been?” Ellie squealed, turning around and looking at Robert.

“I think he has, you know.” Robert confirmed, watching as her face lit up.

They’d spend the best part of an hour getting through the presents, Robert finishing before the others, so he went off to make them all some breakfast, popping his head around the corner to make sure he was back in time for Ellie to open up her big present.

Aaron had seen it in a shop, on a trip into Leeds to see Liv, and he knew straight away that Ellie would love it. She’d been asking for a bike since August, after seeing Noah doing tricks on his own. Robert was reluctant at first, too scared that she’d fall off and break an arm, but Aaron had taught her how to ride a little bit on Noah’s, so he let Aaron buy it on their joint bank card, knowing that in the end, his daughter would love them both for it.

Robert heard his name being called out just as he poured some orange juice out, knowing full well that this meant Ellie was opening up her biggest and last present. It was in a box, they’d managed to find one big enough in a garden centre, and Aaron had used over half a roll of wrapping paper to wrap it up.

They couldn’t believe the smile on her face when she saw what was inside the box, instantly running over and cuddling both of them, clinging on for dear life, before running back to the box and wanting a go on it straight away.

“We need to have some breakfast first, then you can get dressed and have a go before we have to go to Nana Chas’, okay?” Aaron said, before looking over and winking at his husband.

It wasn’t until they’d gone to the pub and had a family Christmas, meal and all, that they had a moments peace to ring Liv and see how she was doing. Turns out, Oscar proposed to her, just like Aaron did to Robert all those years ago, and she couldn’t stop gushing about how he did it- something about drawing their first photo together, and writing ‘will you marry me?’ on the bottom of it.

Ellie climbed on Robert’s knee to talk to her auntie, swinging her legs out and kicking Robert’s shins as she spoke to her, getting more and more excited about the bike she got.

Aaron could hear his sister down the phone, and overheard her asking Ellie if she’d like to be a flower girl for the wedding, smiling when Ellie said ‘yeah’, before jumping off Robert’s knee and handing the phone back to Aaron.

“We did good, didn’t we?” Robert asked, leaning his head on Aaron’s shoulder, watching as Ellie pulled a cracker with Victoria, his own sister fake pouting when his daughter won the prize.

“One engaged, the other a little princess in the making?” Aaron asked, tilting his head and kissing Robert. “We did amazing.”

 


End file.
